Little Weezy

The past 48 hours have been such a blur to me. You often hear people say things like, “life can change in an instant”, but until you experience it, you really don’t realize how true it is, or how some things we call “random”, are not random at all. I’ve never been the type of person to believe in miracles, I’m not even religious, but I can’t deny the life altering set of events that happened this weekend.

I’m not sure where to begin, so I’ll start with my dog, Weezy. She’s a cute miniature Yorkie with the biggest brown eyes you’ve ever seen. I rescued her 3 years ago when she was just a tiny puppy abandoned at the lake in a paper bag. I was on my daily walk around the lake and heard her whimpering. I followed the sound to see her little skinny body shivering and crying in this big brown paper bag you get at the grocery stores.

My heart broke as I thought of how cruel people can be to leave such a defenseless living animal to die. I took her home with me, cleaned her up, fed her and made her mine.

I found Weezy at a time in my life where I was spiraling into a dark depression after a bad break up with an abusive jerk. Finding her was the best thing which could’ve happened to me as it took the focus off of me and my misery onto nurturing and loving this tiny living creature back to health. While most people think I saved her, I now realize we saved each other. I loved her and she loved me, and we reminded one another in our own unique ways that life is still good and fun. She helped me to laugh again with her silliness and sheer genius at manipulation and control at a whopping 5 pounds. It’s hysterical to watch her work a room and have everyone in the palm of her paw by the end of the evening. Sheer joy is what she brought me.

Two days ago Weezy was hit by a cyclist at the lake and critically injured. We were on our daily walk and the cyclist was going way too fast on the trail to swerve in order to miss her. He came from behind us, so I didn’t even see him coming, and before I knew it all I heard was my precious little girl scream in agony. The jerk rode off waving back to me yelling, “I’m sorry!”, but couldn't bother to stop to check if she was ok or not. She was whimpering so loud my heart ached so bad I thought I would pass out. I was sobbing as I carried her back to my car as quickly and carefully as I could to get her to the emergency Vet’s office.

When we arrived the Vet assistants rushed over as they all knew Weezy and loved her. They took her and I straight to the back and Dr. Bend, the Vet, walked in a minute later to examine her, give her something for the pain, and take some X-rays. When he returned to the room, he was very somber. My heart was beating so hard and fast, it felt like it was going to explode as I awaited to hear his prognosis.

Dr. Bend explained the internal injuries she had sustained were worse than he hoped and the only way to save her life was for him to perform a very dangerous surgery, which she may not survive given the severity of her injuries. He said without the surgery, she would have to be put to sleep as the pain would be too severe and he wouldn’t allow her to suffer. The surgery would cost a total of $20,000.00 to include the after care she would need.

I began to sob with my hands over my face, as I didn’t have $20,000.00 in cash or credit to pay for it. I became angry, as I couldn’t believe I was being forced to choose whether or not to save my best friend due to my lack of money.

I took a deep breath and asked the doctor if he could give me a little time to try to come up with the money for the surgery, and he agreed to keep Weezy sedated to give me time to decide what I wanted to do.

I kissed my little girl on the head and told her I’d be back soon. I had no idea what I was going to do, I just knew I had to try to come up with the money. Neither my family nor friends had the money either, so I went home and started looking around for things I could sell immediately, and there was nothing.

I sat down on my couch and memories with Weezy consumed me. I couldn’t imagine my life without her. For the first time in many years, I knelt by the couch and prayed to God to save my little dog.

As I was praying, I remembered an old black book my father had left me in his will. He had found it at a garage sale and kept it in a special place in his study. It was one of his favorites, but I never understood why. I kept the book safely hidden in my closet, still in the beautiful wooden box my father had made for it.

When I opened the box and then opened the little black book, I realized why it was so special. My father had been an avid reader and huge fan of everything T.S. Eliot wrote, and he had left me an original and signed T.S. Eliot book, entitled “Prufock & Other Observations”. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even opened the box to see what was in it, til now.

I immediately went to the internet to see how much it could be worth and I almost fell out of my chair when i saw it was worth over $30,000.00. I immediately searched for antique book dealers in my area and began calling them.

The first place I called was a young man and had no idea who T.S. Eliot was, so on to the next number. The second person to answer was an older woman who knew exactly what book I was talking about and asked if I could bring it by for her to examine it. I immediately jumped in my car and drove the forty-five minutes to get to her book shop.

The shop was small and smelled like old leather bound books and by the looks of the place they were experts at restoring old books. When Linda, the owner of the shop, came out to greet me she seemed like a genuine and kind woman. She was excited to see the book and gasped when she saw it. She said it was in the best condition of any of the T.S. Eliot books she’d ever seen.

I briefly told her my father’s story and the predicament I found myself in today with Weezy, and as I began to get emotional telling her my story she intuitively came over to me and gave me a hug. She reassured me everything would be ok and asked me to wait for a few minutes while she made some phone calls.

She returned with a smile on her face and said she had found a buyer for my little black book, and he was willing to pay me $20,000.00, if I took the deal today. I nearly fainted, I hadn’t said a word to her about the amount of money I needed, and she was now telling me someone was willing to pay me the exact amount I needed to try to save my precious Weezy. I immediately told her I would take it. She took care of all the transaction details and within an hour I was able to confirm the funds had been wired directly to my account, and I left the book with Linda and the gentleman who purchased it would pick it up later.

I knew time was of the essence so I immediately called the Vets office and told them I was on my way there, had the funds and I would like to go ahead with the surgery.

When I arrived, Weezy was already in surgery, and I was told it would likely be a couple of hours, but it seemed like forever.

The doctor emerged and said she was a real fighter and was in recovery. The next few hours would be critical to wait and see how her little body reacted to the surgery, and all we could do was wait and pray. I asked if I could wait in her room and he gave me permission to do so. I couldn’t leave her by herself not knowing if these were the last moments I might have with her. The assistants brought in a bed for me to sleep on next to her and I stayed with her all night. It was stinky and cold in the room, but I didn’t care, I was happy they had allowed me to stay.

The next morning when the nurses came back they were astonished how well she looked and was responding. She was out of the woods, and I felt this huge sigh of relief come over me. I decided to go home and take a long hot shower. I went back later to see Weezy and she was conscious but not yet able to move, she would have to stay under their observation for the next few days. Her big brown eyes followed me around the room and I knew she was on her way to healing.

As I look back on this whole experience, I can’t help but thank God for answering my prayers. If I hadn’t gotten on my knees to pray, would I have thought of my father’s book? I’m not sure, but because I did my Weezy is still here with us and I will never forget it. This might even motivate me to pray a little more every day to see what other miracles come my way.